Blackberry-nectarine crumble
This crumble takes 20 minutes to prepare, plus the baking time. It’s remarkably simple. You clean the blackberries, slice the nectarines, add some sugar and cinnamon, make the crumble topping, put it all together and pop it into the oven. Easy peasy.
You can use wild or farmed blackberries, or a combination. The quantities are not set in stone — you can change the proportion of blackberries to nectarines depending on what you have on hand. You can also use a baking pan of any shape — round, square or oval.
The quantities below will serve six people.
8 ounces (220 g, 1 cup) blackberries
6 nectarines
5 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
4-1/2 ounces butter (1 stick+1 tbsp., 125 g) at room temperature
1 cup flour
Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F, gas mark 6).
Pick over the blackberries to remove any stems. Rinse. Turn onto a paper towel to dry.
Rinse the nectarines. Slice. Transfer to a bowl. Add 2 tbsp. sugar and the cinnamon. Stir.
Use a small piece of butter to grease an 8-9 inch (20-24 cm) round cake or pie pan, preferably ceramic or glass, or another baking pan of your choice.
Cut the rest of the butter into smallish pieces. Transfer to a large bowl. Add 2 tbsp. sugar, and cut in using two knives held parallel to each other. Add most of the flour, cut in with the knives, then go in with your hands for the final blending. If the crumble is too sticky, add a little more flour. It should be be coarser than sand, but without big lumps.
Spread the nectarine slices over the bottom of your baking pan. Scatter the blackberries on top. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tbsp. sugar. Add the crumble topping.
Bake 40-50 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.
Serve warm or at room temperature, topped with cream or ice cream if you like. Serves 6.
